Sunday, September 29, 2013

**** NOTE, for some reason the margins are not allowing the full photo to be seen, you can click on the photos at the bottom and they will become larger :)If I was Katy Perry - I would have sung "I met the Pet Shop Boys and I liked it" LMAO!!!!!I'm still on Cloud 9 about this!!!!!!For our 5th Year Wedding Anniversary (20th of Sept) Bob purchased tickets to see the Pet Shop Boys perform in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show was at the Sony Centre. Bob went above and beyond since he knew I loved the Pet Shop Boys so much as I have been following since I was in high school (I am now in my 40's) LOL He purchased a Meet & Greet package. I was so nervous!!!We arrived super early to Toronto and walked around a bit, but when it was approx. 1 hour before they would let us in for the MEET & GREET we decided to head back to the car and retrieve what we had brought to have signed by the BOYS and wait out front of the Sony Centre. About 20 minutes into our wait we heard a familiar voice and it was a friend and he brought along his son. We had met him back in 2006 when we were at a previous Pet Shop Boys Concert in Toronto. We quickly caught up with each other and then a crowd started to form since it was getting close to 5pm. We entered the building but we still had to wait until they opened doors to let us into the lobby. More familiar faces from 2006 appeared, including someone we had nicknamed DANCING BOY (because he was one of the most active members of the audience we saw back in 2006)We were suppose to be let in at 5pm, but it was almost 5:40pm before we were all let inside, names checked off, had a moment to look over merchandise and then had to line up to be let into a separate room to meet The Boys. We kept chatting with the Petheads from 2006 and even met some new ones as they overheard us talking and they knew the town where we lived. :) Finally the moment arrived, Bob and I were next in line to walk through the frosted covered doors. My heart was racing, "what was I going to say to them?", "would I faint?", "what if they don't like what I brought for them to sign and they refused?". You see, I had brought something unique. When I turned 40 years old, I had decided I should create a Bucket List. After making that list, my #1 item on it was to have my photo taken with Chris Lowe & Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys. I thought it was a for sure thing when Bob purchased those Meet & Greet tickets. I mean, previous attempts of going to their concert meant running outside afterwards in attempts to meet them with over 100 other fans outside in hopes they would let us take photos, but back in 2006 it was not allowed. I still remember to this day being told by security, the first person who pulls out a camera means it is the end of autographs, etc... and the Boys would be whisked away. Thankfully everyone behaved and I was able to meet them, thank them and even give Chris a "Weeble". In 2006 it was a PLUTO weeble. Why? Not sure, maybe because they wrote a song "I Want A Dog"? LOL But as their Electric Tour was going on I was reading rumblings of fans being disappointed as NO PHOTOS WERE ALLOWED. My heart sunk. I mean, I get it, they probably have a million people asking for photos every day.... maybe they are sick of it? I would then see photos pop up every other day of what appeared to be fans with them after the show. I could not take the chance though, I did not think luck would be in my favour this time around that if I met them MAYBE just Maybe they would let me have a photo with them. I decided I would try and paint a photo of them with Bob and I. I wasn't 100% happy with it, but it was all I had. Bob was going to bring a picture he had sketched for me - my very first Valentine's Day Gift from him. (GRIN) It was of the BOYS back when Chris had long hair. :) So, there we were, face to face with that clouded door. The exit door opened and some of the 2006 Petheads emerged grinning ear to ear. Then the door opened in front of us and I could see two men... and I apologize, I honestly don't know who they were, I think I was told later on by someone one was their manager, not sure who the other one was (BLUSH) and as I entered and made a left, there standing in front of me were the two men I had idolized since I was a teen, for real in the flesh. I let out a mini scream and they both looked a little taken a-back as if some sort of freak (ya, that would be me) entered the room but then Chris quickly cracked a big smile and laughed and I calmed down. Bob quickly took over realizing I probably was just going to freeze up. He walked over to them and if I can remember this correctly (because of course now this is a blur and starting to fade) he introduced himself as Bob and me as his wife Mary and we each got to shake their hands and say how it was sooooooooooooo nice to meet them. I remember handing Neil a card addressed to Chris & Neil basically THANKING them for coming to Canada, etc... I can't even remember locking eyes with them for very long because I could feel myself blushing, but I did manage to nervously giggle. Bob also told them we were "artists" OMG, really? Maybe Bob is, but me? No, I just paint for fun, he made it sound like we were professionals. LOL I quickly pulled out my painting and again, I can't really remember their reactions, I am leaning to think one of them said "oh, that's pretty good" and Neil was holding it and then I'm thinking he was unsure if I was going to give it to them (since I know that people in the past had been giving them gifts, but I was unsure what to give them, I would of offered the moon to them if I could of afforded it. LOL) and I asked if they could please sign it as Bob had mentioned that since they weren't allowing photos I had taken the time to paint a picture of them with us so they could sign it for me. Neil signed first and then Chris. I remember one of them asking me if "Bob" in the photo was suppose to be Elton John's husband. Whhhat?!! LMAO! OMG, now I know I didn't do a good job (BLUSH). Bob unrolled his picture of them and they signed it. As Neil was signing Bob's drawing, there was an awkward silence, "What do I say next???!?" I remember Bob saying something like "We are really enjoying the direction you are taking your music" LOL!!!!!!!!!!! Chris somehow had moved from where he originally was standing over towards me, oh man.... felt my knees buckling.... looked into his eyes and I blurted out "Soooooooooo............. how's things going with you?" AHAHHAHAHAHA and he replied "pretty good, enjoying the tour". "Ohhhh that's good" I said. LOL I then reached into my purse and pulled out A WEEBLE - this time a ScubaWeeble. "Wot's this?" he asked. Ohhh, here we go again (GIGGLE) I managed to get out "Ohhh, it's a weeble, it wobbles" and I think at that point their manager or someone came over and said "you know" and made a wobbling motion. LOL!!! At that point, our Meet & Greet was over and we were led to the exit door. ((WINK)) I remember Neil saying "Hope you Enjoy the Show" and me replying "ohhhhhhhhhhh you can bet on it" LOL!!! We exited and the crowd remaining in the line-up asked how it was and I think again I let a mini squeal out and ran to our Fellow-2006 Petheads to show them the signature on the painting. We only had about an hour to grab something to eat and head over to the concert. The Sony Centre was packed (THAT'S AWESOME) and long story short the show was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! The Laser Show was Incredible too!! Don't get me wrong, I have loved every Pet Shop Boys concert I have been to, their back-up singers have been fantastic, but this time it was just them and two dancers - Pure Pet Shop Boys Heaven!!!! We were all up on our feet this time, dancing & singing. That was the only downfall, me being so short, had a hard time see over tall people's heads and arms waving and cell phones recording. LOL I didn't hear anyone complaining though. Bob was able to snap some nice photos and even took one video. I really didn't expect him to do anything this time but enjoy the show (which he did big time) but he wanted to do this for me because he knows how much I love them. You can even see DANCING BOY as he scored front row tickets again. Our tickets were in the 5th row center. I cannot complain, Bob did an excellent job. Hopefully next time we can get front row, not quite sure how one goes about doing that..... any thoughts? At this point, I don't think I'll share the my painting as I'm still a little shy about it. (GIGGLE) I can say it is proudly hanging in our dining room. Makes me smile big time every time I lay eyes on it. I have an idea for another one, we just need to get those BOYS back over here on our side of the world. :) I swear, if I ever win the "Bajillion Dollars" I am paying for a private concert with some fellow Petheads! Ahhh, one can dream, right? LOL Enjoy the photos :)PS: In case Chris or Neil or anyone from the Electric Tour reads this entry, from the bottom of my Heart - THANK YOU!You are truly amazing at what you do and you make A LOT of people happy!!! NEVER give up what you love to do!!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE (PRETTY PLEASE) COME BACK TO ONTARIO, CANADA in the future!!! Hey, maybe you can even visit the Niagara Region :) x10000000000